'Our stories hold all of us together. To create is to tell the stories that live in the land, the stories that flow through our veins. Our creative spirit may be old, but our voice is current, it is strong.'
Robert Fielding is a contemporary artist of Yankunytjatjara, Western Arrernte, Afghan, and Pakistani heritage, living and working in Mimili on the Aṉangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara (APY) Lands in South Australia.Working across photography, painting, sculpture, and installation, Robert’s multidisciplinary practice explores the relationships between Country, culture, memory, and the enduring impacts of colonisation. His work challenges conventional understandings of landscape and material, recognising discarded objects, including abandoned vehicles, water tanks, and fencing wire, as part of Country and as carriers of cultural memory. Through processes of transformation and reclamation, Robert creates works that speak to resilience, sovereignty, and the continuing presence of First Nations knowledge.Central to his practice is the concept of the ‘living archive’, an approach that understands cultural knowledge as something active, evolving, and sustained through community, rather than confined to historical records. Grounded in Tjukurpa, cultural protocol, and the principle of ngapartji-ngapartji (reciprocity), his work brings ancestral knowledge into dialogue with contemporary experience.A senior artist and cultural leader at Mimili Maku Arts, Robert plays an important role in mentoring younger generations and supporting the continuation of cultural knowledge through the Mimili Wati men’s movement. His artistic practice is inseparable from this commitment to community, cultural responsibility, and intergenerational exchange.Robert has exhibited extensively across Australia and internationally, including at the National Gallery of Australia, Art Gallery of New South Wales, and Fondation Opale in Switzerland. His practice has received significant recognition through major national art prizes, including the 2026 Hadley’s Art Prize, the 2024 Bowness Photography Prize, the 2021 Fisher’s Ghost Art Award, and the Telstra Work on Paper Award at the National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art Awards in both 2015 and 2017.His work is held in major public and private collections across Australia, the United States, and Europe.